South Dakota State vs. North Dakota State is the championship we've all been waiting for
South Dakota State vs. North Dakota State has become the premier rivalry in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, and now that rivalry will take the national stage when the Jackrabbits and Bison square off in the FCS national championship game Jan. 8 in Frisco, Tex.
It’s not the first time either of these programs have been featured on the national level, but it seems like the appropriate culmination of what’s been a wild, nearly-20 year ride.
One hundred years after their first meeting on the football field (an 85-0 NDSU win in 1903), SDSU and NDSU made the jump from Division II and the North Central Conference to Division I (and Division I-AA football) in time for the 2004 season. They’d been conference foes since 1922, but never really what anyone would call rivals in the 80 years after. The Bison were a Division II force, and their main rival was the University of North Dakota, another football powerhouse.
For the Jackrabbits, the University of South Dakota was their rival, and both schools enjoyed modest success on the gridiron when compared to the North Dakota colleges.
But when SDSU and NDSU decided to move up to Division I, USD and UND chose to stay behind. So the Jacks and Bison turned to each other as partners in transition, forged a new path, and announced a new rivalry – the Dakota Marker. To be honest, it felt a little forced at the time.
“We literally needed each other,” Jacks coach John Stiegelmeier admits, before adding, “To envision what happened – I don’t know if anyone could.”
Indeed, the Dakota Marker rivalry has far exceeded whatever hopes either school could have had back in 2004, and the Bison and Jackrabbits have enjoyed more success on the field than anyone would have dared to predict.
NDSU has won nine I-AA/FCS championships. The Jacks are still looking for their first, but this year are appearing in the playoffs for the 10th straight year. They only made it once in 100-plus years in Division II. This is SDSU’s second appearance in the national title game.
The teams have played in front of sold-out crowds in Brookings and Fargo. ESPN’s College Gameday has visited both campuses, coming to SDSU in 2019 specifically to highlight the Dakota Marker rivalry. Both have sent several players onto the NFL. They’ve played each other in the playoffs.
More:South Dakota State vs. North Dakota State in the FCS playoffs
The one thing they haven’t done is play each other in the title game. Now that they are, it feels overdue.
“It definitely seems fitting,” said NDSU offensive tackle Cody Mauch. “Two of the best teams going at it, and it being them just makes it a little bit more special. It should be a really good game. I’m glad we’re able to play another game in Texas and I’m glad we’re getting another shot at these guys.”
That’s a somewhat ironic twist to the meeting – while NDSU is undefeated in Frisco and leads the Jacks 9-0 in national championship trophies (17 if you count pre-Division I titles) – the Bison are the underdog this time. They already lost to the Jacks once this year, at home. SDSU (13-1) is ranked No. 1 in the nation and has been since that win. They’ve won 13 games in a row. And they’ve now won the last three meetings with NDSU (12-2).
“Right now they’re playing at a very high level with a ton of confidence,” Bison coach Matt Entz said of the Jacks. “They have that mojo from beating the Bison a couple times in a row.”
The last time SDSU beat NDSU in the regular season and then got another shot at them in the playoffs was in 2016. They were routed 36-10.
More:FRISCO BOUND: South Dakota State football going to national championship with rout of Montana State
That’s not to say one team winning twice in this series in the same season is impossible – the Bison did it in 2018, beating SDSU 21-17 in Fargo in September, then hammering them 44-21 in the semifinals.
Playoff games don’t count in the Dakota Marker Series, so that trophy is staying in Brookings for another year regardless of what happens on Jan. 8. But the trophy case that sits in the main office of the Dykhouse Center is still missing the big one. And it’s not hard to get a sense that SDSU players (a few ‘horns down’ gestures notwithstanding) are more focused on finally changing that than on who they have to beat to do it.
“I think (the rivalry) adds a little bit to it,” Jacks quarterback Mark Gronowski said evenly. “If you’re not hyped enough for a national championship I don’t know why you’re playing in this game, but (NDSU) adds a little juice to it.”
The atmosphere in Frisco should be wild, with not one but two midwestern fanbases taking over the city. Much has been made of Bison fans turning the Texas town into ‘Fargo South’, but Jacks fans made their presence felt impressively in the 2021 spring national championship. This should be even better.
More:Zimmer: Finally, it's South Dakota State vs. North Dakota State in Frisco
Stiegelmeier likes to use the word ‘unique’ for some of his team’s most treasured accomplishments, and this will certainly be that. Imagine if the Yankees and Red Sox could somehow face off in the World Series? Or a Vikings/Packers Super Bowl?
We’ve seen an Alabama/Georgia championship at the FBS level, and this year a Michigan/Ohio State title game could be in the cards. That, on a smaller scale (but still a nationally-televised one), is what we’re talking about, here.
“I think this is the game people have been talking about for a long time,” said Jacks guard Mason McCormick. “We’re definitely excited about it.
“It would mean a lot, just to the entire state of South Dakota,” McCormick said of potentially bringing home the trophy and beating the Bison to do it. “They’ve been hearing NDSU this and that everywhere for the past decade or so. So it would mean a ton to do it.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: SDSU vs NDSU is the national championship we've all been waiting for
